Wild Boy
by sirscreen
Summary: Set in Season 1 of Buffy, after Heroes of Olympus. The Slayer isn't the only powerful force in town. Who is that warrior with the glowing sword? Can he be the classmate that makes her Slayer warning sense flare up every time he is in the same room as her? And most importantly, what is he doing in Sunnydale?
1. Prologe

**Warning note:**

** I am a US Marine who's going to be chopped for deployment in a few months. When that happens, I'll probably be out in the field more than garrison, so hopefully this work will be done by then.**

** I will say this though: standing a twelve hour post gives you ample time to write. It also messes up your sleep schedule.**

**Also, I own neither _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ nor _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ or any subsidiaries thereof.**

** Percy**

Even by my standards, this was turning into a weird day. Well, time travel does that. But you'd think that there would be some sort of cosmic balancing, right? Hey, you literally went through hell, and in leaving you kind of missed your exit by about fifteen years, so we're gonna throw you a bone. Nope. Sorry. Just kidding. Guess what, we got a new ordeal for you!

High School. In the 90s.

Well, it's partially my own fault anyway. You see, I was the one wandering around in broad daylight, obviously school age and not in school. You see, I was more concerned with finding a way to get food back to Annabeth than with really watching my surroundings. Or, maybe it was because I was just as hungry. Or maybe because, growing up in New York, I had grown used to a police force with more to be concerned with than truant kids.

Which is how I was arrested, spent the day in jail, where they forced me to bathe (Okay, that I cooperated with), fed me (same), and forced me into Sunnydale High (Despite my protests, they did take me alive).

I was planning on ditching as soon as I had the chance, but during the in processing, they gave me a meal card for lunch. I held it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Apparently, because the police could find no record of me, I became a ward of the state. It made no sense to me either, but after going hungry for three weeks, I wasn't complaining.

They stuck me in a halfway house that was easy as hell to escape from. The old lady who ran it didn't give a rats ass that I was never there. I had other things to occupy myself with.

For starters, my one ally was someone I never would have expected to be.

**Cordelia**

Okay, I don't want to have to go over this twice, so listen up:

I used to be like you. Okay, maybe more glamorous and beautiful and all around better. But normal, nonetheless. Did I ask to be brought into this world of demons and magic? No. And I don't appreciate being dragged into it.

Okay, if it's a choice between being dragged into it and being dead, I will take the dragging anyday.

Here's what happened. I was out partying it up at the Bronze one night, staying up late and having some fun. I met the guy who was absolutely yummy and chatted him up. But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about him. I just shook my head and powered through. Last call comes, and I say good bye and go to my car. But the guy won't take no for an answer, right? So he follows me out the door, and that's when trouble begins.

I try to open my car door, but he slams it before I have the opportunity to get in. Well, now the gloves are off, I think. So I turn around to tear him a new one and his face has gone thundering ugly. I don't care how bad the light is in the club, there was no way I'd miss that. I screamed, and he threw me to the ground. I kicked him were it hurt and ran for my life.

I didn't get very far when his friend found me. And he looked even uglier.

He grabbed my shoulders and threw me through the door of one of the industrial buildings. What is it with monsters and throwing me? Didn't their mothers ever teach them not to play with their food? Ugly 1 quickly caught up with us and the pair advanced on me.

And then a figure landed behind them. At that point I was too frightened to really care. I started caring a lot when the third guy drew a glowing sword and beheaded Ugly 1.

Ugly 2 ducked and punched Sword guy in the face, sending him to the floor. Sword guy rolled and brandished his sword, making Ugly 2 take a step back and let loose a sick growl. He didn't see another one with a knife come up behind and cut his head off. Except, this one I could see clearly.

It was a girl, pretty, but in dire need of a shower and clean clothes. Her eyes flashed, and the look she gave me reminded of the look that I saw a math geek give an equation he found interesting. And then she looked at Sword Guy, her movements twitchy and sudden.

"Percy?" she said. Her voice cracked, like she didn't have a whole lot of control over it.

Sword guy stepped into the light, his sword disappearing. It was Jackson from school. The homeless guy who threw that other loser through the window. He looked at the crazy girl with such affection that I felt like I was intruding, "Annabeth?" he said, "You okay?"

Her head jerked to me, "She saw us."

"Yeah," I said, "And can I say, weird much? I mean, who carries a sword around? Wait, where'd it go?"

Jackson had that deer in headlights look. He gulped, snapped his fingers, and said, "You didn't see a sword..."

"Yes I did," I said.

"Energy in the air," the blonde said, "Interferes with Mist manipulation... you're doing it wrong... I want peanut butter."

"She not all there, is she?" I observed, and his eyes flashed, "Hey, I call them as I see them."

"She's right," Annabeth said, "Not here, not Tartarus... where are I?"

"Sunnydale," Jackson said, "Remember, this is where we-"

"_Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death,_" She interrupted, "Death is Timeless..."

"I'm getting confused just being around her," I said, "What is going on?"

"She has that effect on people," Jackson said, "This all started the day I sliced my math teacher in half..."

And so he told me everything.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Welcome to the Hellmouth

"Have a good time," Buffy's mom said, "I know you're going to make friends in no time, just think positive."

Buffy wondered where they came up with that stuff. _Think positive?_ As a woman who's destiny is to kill vampires, thinking positive hasn't got her very far.

"And Honey-" her mom called out, "Try not to get kicked out."

She smiled, "I'll try," No promises.

Buffy looked at the school, took a deep breath. She started up the steps to the school when she felt a cold breath over her shoulder. The kind of cold breath she usually associated with danger. _It can't be..._ then she took a deep breath. It's broad daylight. She's safe for now. She turned just in time to see a student riding a skate board slam into the railing. She flinched and hurried to help him up.

"Please tell me I died and went to heaven," He said, "Because you surely are an angel," his eyes slid from her to the young woman standing next to her, "And God sure does look a lot like my friend Willow..."

Buffy actually laughed, despite her danger senses still going crazy, "Not the cheesiest pickup line I've ever heard, but your follow through was phenomenal."

"That's me," the boy said, "I follow through everything. Even swallow gum."

"It's true he does," the young woman said, "I'm Willow a-and this is Xander," she indicated the boy, who by now had gotten to his feet.

She was fully of nervous energy, like a chipmonk about to flee, and Xander seemed harmless enough. So why did she still feel that powerful presence?

And then her eyes found him. A boy standing about thirty yards away. He seemed to... watch her for a second. But he continued to the school so fast that she thought that maybe she just imagined it. He even past right by her. He seemed to have his own aura of static electricity with him.

He definitely wouldn't have trouble finding a girl. He was tall, tan, his black hair in careless disarray, with a handsome face. He was dressed plainly in a white t-shirt with left breast pocket and bluejeans with sneakers, with a backpack that had plainly seen better days. Buffy immediately pegged him for a wild child. In a line up, he wouldn't stand out against other troublemakers.

But it must have been his wolf stare that set off Buffy's senses. He seemed to say, without a single word, _However bad you think you are, believe me, I'm much worse. _He seemed to almost vibrate with some unknown power.

_Steer clear_, she thought,_ I don't want trouble_.

Of course, she never could get a break, now could she?

* * *

Buffy had by now pretty much tuned Cordelia Chase out by know. Before, she would have sized her up as a potential rival for popularity. Okay, she still is sizing her up as a potential rival. But now, instead of being of overwhelming importance, popularity was now relegated to only great importance.

She again felt the cold breath, except this time it was right in her face. Her eyes fell on the boy, tall, tan, and powerful. He was rummaging in his locker for something.

"Who's that?" Buffy asked.

"Jackson," Cordelia said, "He's cute, I'm not going to lie, but if this school ever had a wrong side of tracks, that would be him," Cordelia stuck up her nose at him, evidently in both the name of snobbishness and sour grapes.

"First name or last?" Buffy asked.

"Not sure," Cordelia shrugged again, evidently losing interest in him besides his social class and his availability. She instead turned her attention to Willow, "Willow, shopping on the softer side of Sears, are we?"

Buffy gaped at Cordelia, _How could she be this mean?_

"My Mom picked this out for me," Willow defended.

Then Buffy thought, _How could she make herself such a target?_

"No wonder your such a boy magnet. Are you done?" she demanded, scaring Willow away.

Buffy pretty much checked out of the conversation after that.

* * *

One thing about California: The days can be hot as hell, and the nights can be close to freezing. On the upside, this means that jackets can be a year-round thing.

Fortunately, her Slayer abilities included increased her tolerance for both heat and cold. So, even though she can see her breath fog in front of her, she only wore a white shirt and sea foam green blouse with jeans.

Evan so, she only felt that cold breath over her shoulder when she was almost to the Bronze.

There she was, perfectly balanced on a pipe that would break a gymnasts heart. She was amused when the figure looked around in confusion. She waited until he passed her by and swung down, slamming her feet into his shoulder blades.

"Why are you following me?" she said, sticking her knee into his throat

"Don't worry," he said, "I don't bite."

Now that she was close, she could feel a slight vibration in the air. Whoever this guy was, he had spent some time around demons. Enough to alert her Slayer Sense that he wasn't exactly harmless.

She got off of him, but remained weary. He got up. He was another cutie, and well dressed too. Shiny black silk jacket and a white shirt of the same material. He got up, saying, "Your shorter than I imagined. Not big or buff," he cracked his neck painfully, "Still pretty spry though."

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"A friend," he said, "I want the same thing you do."

"And what is that?"

He smiled, "To kill them all."

"I'm sorry, that's the wrong answer," Buffy said, "But you do get this nice watch as a consolation prize. What I _want_ is to be left alone," she finished as she began walking away.

"Do you really think that's an option anymore?" he asked, "The Harvest is coming," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket, "You should be ready."

He tossed her a square blue jewelry box. She opened it to reveal a simple silver cross. Expensive, and powerful, able to ward off both vampires and werewolves. Which told her two things: He either had money, or didn't care much for it, and he knew what he was doing.

She looked up to see him walking away, "What if I don't want a friend?" she called after him.

"Never said I was yours," she detected a trace of humor in his voice.

She scowled. She had thought that she had left all the weirdness back in LA. Now she gets to Sunnydale and suddenly she has more weirdness in the first day than a week at LA. At least in LA it pretty much stayed normal during the day. She didn't have to deal with Wild Boy at LA.

The Bronze was a decent place, and certainly affordable. If it had been in LA, the door price would have been much higher or the quality much lower. She had always liked clubs. The music, the lights, it was possible to lose yourself in the moment, forget for a minute about vampires and the mystical. Clubs made her feel... _alive_.

She immediately saw Willow at a table, nursing a cola. She made a beeline for the empty seat next to her. What she did not count on was Willow almost jumping out of her seat when she sat down.

"Oh, I think you're confused, the cool kids don't sit here," she said with incredible speed, "Or, I could move if you want-"

"Chill," Buffy ordered, and then chuckled, "I think I burned the Cordelia bridge a while ago. Why aren't you dancing with the guys?"

She scoffed, "It's probably easy for you. I can usually get out a few syllables before I have to go away. Guys like girls they can talk too," Buffy took it as a good sign that her words slowed down to that of a human girl instead of a chipmunk.

"Do you want to my philosophy?" Willow nodded eagerly, "'Life is short'. Not original, I know, but, it's true. Seize the moment."

"'Seize the moment'," Willow repeated.

Buffy smiled and looked around. And then she saw something she didn't want to see. For the second time today.

The first time was when she went to the library to pick up her textbooks. A kindly middle aged Englishman had greeted her. With an old leather bound volume titled _Vampyre_. It was enough to frighten her off. Why couldn't these weirdos just leave her alone?

"I'll be back," she said to Willow.

"You don't have too," the shy girl replied.

Buffy smiled in amusement, "I'll be back."

It's amazing how stiff a man can be in a club... wow, that was dirtier than she thought it would be, "Having fun?"

"Yes, loud music, horrible smell, that's my idea of fun," he said sarcastically, "I would much rather be at home with a good book and Bivol."

"Why are you here?"

"Because you need to understand," he said, "You are the Slayer. Only you can stand against-"

"Forces of darkness, yadda yadda," Buffy dismissed, "Don't you people have anything better to do than to keep harassing me," then she thought about it. English, Librarian, former curator of British Museum... that explains more than it doesn't.

The Watcher rolled his eyes, "This... place, it's the perfect hunting ground for vampires. It's crowded, poor light, loud noise isolated. You need to clear your mind, focus your senses, to find the vampire. It's incredibly-"

"There," she pointed to a boy below the landing.

"That was fast," the Watcher observed.

"That shirt with those dance moves?" Buffy pointed out, "Only someone who's been living underground for twenty years would think that is still in style."

"Effective," Giles observed, "But not what I wanted-" he stopped when Buffy put her hand on his arm, a look of alarm on her face, "What is it?"

"Willow," Buffy said, pointing down to the vampire. And how he was leaving with...

"What on earth is she doing?" Giles asked.

"Seizing the moment," Buffy said as she hurried downstairs. She hurried downstairs, muscling her way through the crowd. She saw Willow's bright red hair disappear behind a door leading outside. She barreled through it and looked around the alley.

Willow and the vampire were nowhere in sight. Buffy tried to hone her senses, do what Giles told her. Focus, clear the mind.

She heard something behind her. She whirled around and pinned Cordelia to the wall, stake in hand.

"Geez!" Cordelia said, "What is your childhood trauma?! Do you attack everyone who steps out of the bathroom?"

Buffy stepped away. Cordelia pulled out her cell phone and said, "Excuse me. I have to call everyone I have ever met!"

Buddy rolled her eyes and hurried out of the alley. She looked around for any clues. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and felt a mental tug going to her left. She tried not to think that she imagined it as she hurried down the street.

As soon as Buffy was out of earshot, Cordelia put away her cell phone and took out a little silver pendant shaped like a trident out of her purse. She said into it, "I lost him. He has Willow..."

* * *

Buffy ran through the cemetery, feeling a slight tug at the front of her mind, Xander barely being able to keep up. She had picked him up chasing after the vampire as he left the Bronze, and demanded to know exactly _where _Willow would go. From there she figured the nearest cemetery and let her instincts do the rest.. She got goosebumps, and the cold breath passing over her skin was growing until she felt like she was about to become an ice cube. That meant that whatever vampire had them was old and dangerous. Or a lot of younger vampires.

Neither of those options was particularly good.

She spotted a mausoleum, and she felt an almost electric charge. They were here.

"Stay behind me," she told Xander.

She arrived just in time to see a small one, fully vamped out, advancing on Willow and Jesse.

"Well, this is nice," Buffy interrupted, "It's not much now, but a dash of paint, some throw pillows, call it home."

"Who the hell are you?" the she-vamp asked.

"You mean there's actually someone in this town who doesn't know already?," she said, "I tell ya, keeping a secret identity is a job of work here."

"Buffy, we bail now, right?" Xander said.

"Not yet," the male vampire said.

"Ok, first of all, what's with the outfit?" Buffy asked, "Live in the now, okay? You look like DeBarge," she noticed that the two vampires were slowly walking toward her in two different directions, so that if she turned to one, her back would be to the other. Not worried, Buffy turned to face the older vampire, "Now, we can do this the hard or... well, actually, there's _just _the hard way."

"That's fine with me," the she-vamp said.

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked, "Now, this is not going to be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content-"

She heard the tell tale roar behind her. Quicker than an thought, Buffy drew her stake and drove it through his ribcage, without turning or looking bothered at all.

The older vampire look horror struck. Buffy said, "See what happens when you rough house?"

"He was young and stupid," the vampire said. Suddenly, the air grew even colder. This one wasn't a pushover like the last one.

"Xander, Go!" Buffy said as the vampire swung and her.

This one was fast, and strong. But her style was unrefined. This one wasn't a fighter, despite her age.

The vampire threw a backhand at Buffy, which she blocked, kicked her in her midsection, and threw her into the wall while Xander and Willow grabbed Jesse and carried him out of the crypt.

"You know," Buffy said, "I just wanted to start over. Be like everybody else. Have some friends, you know, maybe a dog. But no. you had to come here. You couldn't suck on some other town."

"Who are you?" the vampire said.

"Don't you know-uhh!" a cold, powerful hand grabbed the back of her neck and lifted her in the air.

"I don't care," a deep voice said.

This was the fighter.

He threw her into the wall. The warrior picked up the other vampire by the arm, "You were supposed to bring an offering for the Master," he admonished, "We are almost at Harvest and yet you daly with this child."

"We had some one, and then she came!" the smaller vampire said, her voice more frightened of him than Buffy, "She killed Thomas. Luke. She's strong."

"You go," Luke ordered, I will take care of this one."

Buffy pushed herself up just in time to uppercut the vampires face. He was so tall, and her so short, that her arm was almost fully extended before it made contact. The threw two more punches and a kick to the chin. The vampire smiled in amusement, "You're strong," he said as he backhanded her again, "I'm stronger," and faster.

This didn't look good.

* * *

Willow, Jesse, and Xander ran for their lives, headstones becoming blurs.

It's amazing how fast you can stop when you find that your surrounded by vampires.

Xander whirled around, his brain, never one for strenuous activities, kicked into over drive. He counted at least a dozen vampires. He probably couldn't even fight off a dozen middle schoolers, let alone super powererful undead, who looked very hungry by the look of it.

His life was just beginning to flash before his eyes (_Oh God, why?._.. was a common after thought), the vampires stopped looking at them. They were staring at the roof of another mausoleum (Man this graveyard was big...). Standing there was a figure, bathed in the glowing light of a – is that a bronze _sword?_

The tip moved in tiny circles at his feet. He said, in a voice deadlier than a hurricane, "I'm giving you an out. I suggest you take it."

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Prelude to Harvest

_"I'm giving you an out. I suggest you take it."_

One of the demons snarled at the figure. For a second, no one, living or dead, moved. And then the warrior jumped from his perch.

Xander had never seen anyone move so fast. As soon as he landed lightly on his feet, he smoothly and gracefully took off the head of the nearest vampire. And then all hell broke loose. Vampires leaped at him, completely ignoring Xander and his friends. The warrior ducked and dodged, taking more than a few vampire heads, but he was hopelessly out numbered.

"Go!" the warrior shouted, "What are you waiting for?! _RUN!_"

That got Xander's attention. He dragged Jesse and Willow away, moving to the entrance to the graveyard. He had to get them out of there before the vampires over ran the warrior.

He felt a cold hand grab his shoulder. He was flung away from the others. A female vampire straddled him. He was embarrassed to say that his last thought on earth would be that she was hot. She smiled, her face fully vamped out. She licked her lips before she arched her back and screamed in pain, before bursting into dust.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked, stake in hand.

"I think I got some of her in my mouth," Xander said, blowing raspberries to get her out.

Worst part:

She didn't taste that bad.

* * *

"The world is older than you know," Giles said, "Contrary to popular mythology, the world did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, demons walked the earth. They made it their world, their hell. But, they began to lose their grip on reality, and the way was paved for mortal creatures, for- for man. The last demon to leave fed on a human, exchanging blood. He became possessed by the demons soul. He bit another, and another, and thus, vampires were born."

"Here's what I don't get," Xander said, "We're talking about vampires. We are having a discussion with vampires in it."

"That's what we saw last night, wasn't it?" Willow asked, "That's what put Jesse in the hospital, isn't it?"

"No, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial," Buffy said, holding an ice pack to her arm, "Maybe it rabies, or drugs. It could not possibly have been vampires."

Everyone looked at her. Then she continued, "That's exactly what I said when I first saw them. Once I was done with the screaming part."

"I think I need to sit down," Willow said.

"You are sitting down," Buffy pointed out.

"Oh," Willow realized, "Good for me."

"I am curious about that warrior you three encountered last night," Giles said, "You said he carried a glowing bronze sword?"

"Yeah," Xander confirmed, "The blade was kinda funny, wider at the top."

"Leaf shaped?" Giles said, "Yes, does it look like this?" he showed them an illustration from a book. Not an ancient one, but old, circa 1950s. It showed a drawn arm holding a sword of the same design as the one from last night.

"Yes, not as short though," Xander said, "Definitely longer than his arm."

"It's a _xiphos_," Giles said.

"God bless you," Xander said.

"I didn't sneeze," Giles said in annoyance, "It's an Ancient Greek design. Originally they were made of bronze, albeit the non-glowing kind. Later they were made with iron, and gradually fell out of favor with the induction of the curved _kopis_ and _Makhira_, which were more suited for the relatively soft iron available at the time."

"So he's using an obsolete mystical weapon?" Willow asked.

"Men do love the classics," Xander said, "Buffy makes vampires knees weak with that stake."

"Joking aside," Giles said, "The metal you described sounds like celestial bronze, mined from Mt Olympus, home of the gods. It's supposed to be very rare. I only know of one such weapon, a knife from the Trojan wars, the Watchers council has it in their mystical weapons vault. It was believed to be the only such weapon in existence."

"Then how did that guy get it?" Xander asked.

"Maybe he inherited it?" Willow suggested, "Like I got my nose from my mother."

"I'm more concerned with the man who wielded it," Giles said.

"Whoever he is, he must have power," Buffy said, "Taking on a dozen vampires at once? Even I couldn't come back from that unscathed, sword or no."

"Quite," Giles said, "It doesn't bode well that you couldn't sense his presence, which you need to learn to do else-whys, but if he could be an ally, we need to know, to at least coordinate, but we need to equally if he's an enemy. For all we know, he could be biding his time, waiting to strike."

"Well, in my defense, there were a dozen vampires around," Buffy argued, "Although..."

**Cordelia**

I pulled open the door to the loading dock of the warehouse, picked up the brown bag of groceries, and walked in, mad as hell.

"What the hell, Jackson?!" I yelled, hearing my voice echo in the wide empty space, "You know the deal- Ahh!"

I jumped when Annabeth grabbed my arm. Okay, should going slightly insane from going through hell make a bit less quiet? "Help him," she said, her eyes wide under her hair, a lot of which fell down her face.

"Help him what?" I asked, "And didn't we have a talk about sneaking up on people, namely, me?"

She just pointed to what was the office. They had re-purposed it as a bedroom, the logic being that it was less drafty than the large open space that compromised the main floor. I rolled my eyes and started walking toward it. Scattered around me were the various odd items that had been improvised as training tools. Stacked crates that were barely held together by rusty nails and duct tape were used for climbing and some sort of parkour thing that Jackson called "free running", a jungle gym of junk that always looks like it would collapse at any moment, which, according to Jackson, made it "interesting".

Which could also be used to describe what I saw when I entered the office. Also, "Gross", "Scary," and "Ouch".

For one thing, he had the biggest shiner I had ever seen. He held his rib cage and breathed short, shallow breaths. One of them was definitely broken. His hair was matted in blood, and his eyes were blood shot.

"You look like crap," I observed.

"Obvious," Annabeth said.

"Is this why you missed school?" I asked, "Geez, you need a hospital."

"Ambrosia," he said, "Nectar."

"The stuff from plants?"

"Food and drink of the gods," Annabeth said, her voice distant, "Deep-fried twinkies..."

As usual, I had no idea what she was talking about. I said, "Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital-"

"No!" He said. When he spoke, he did it haltingly, his ribs limiting the amount of air he breathed, "Ocean."

"What, you can't swim in this condition," I said.

"Water is good," he stood up painfully, "Trust me."

* * *

"We have a bigger threat," Giles said as he entered the hospital room.

"He said to the guy who barely survived the last big threat," Jesse said.

"The Harvest?" Buffy guessed.

"Indeed," Giles took off his glasses and rubbed them with his coat, "The harvest. I have been doing some research, and I found somehting," He pulled a book out of his shoulder bag.

"Nice purse," Xander said.

"It's not a purse," Giles defended, "It's a satchel."

"It's a purse," Jesse agreed.

"Indiana Jones has one," Giles argued, "Back to the point, about 60 years ago, a very old, very powerful Vampire known simply as the Master arrived in Sunnydale, hoping to open a portal into... well, into Hell. But a sudden earthquake trapped him underground. However, I found a passage about The Harvest, the one night in a century that the Master can feed by proxy."

"Proxy?" Xander asked.

"He can feed using someone else for the killing," Buffy said, "When is this?"

"Tonight."

"Of course..."

* * *

**Percy**

We ended up compromising.

Cordelia gave me a ride to her house, where I threw myself into her pool. I wasn't sure if water would still do the trick, but it wrapped me up like a warm cocoon, and I felt the familiar buzz and breathed deeply. It tasted slightly chlorinated, but Codry's parents hired good poolboys, and the chemical balance was just right.

I stayed at the bottom for a few minutes, just enjoying the feel of the familiar for a bit. Wanting to test something out, I crouched, and concentrated. I pulled as much water as I could to the bottom. It wasn't very hard, because the weight of the water on top was already doing that. Next I focused it under my feet.

And then I shot out like a rocket.

I flipped twenty feet in the air, landing solidly on my feet. I straightened up and smiled.

Cordy flipped another page on her magazine, "Done yet?"

I sighed. I didn't know why I bothered, "Yeah," I said, "Who are the guys always hanging around Willow?"

"Xander Harris and Jesse Park," Cordy said, "They've been friends since kindergarten. Why?"

"I'm wondering why a dozen vampires would go after only three people," I said, "Especially since one of them is as small as Willow."

"Maybe they're on a diet," Cordy guessed.

"I wouldn't think that blood is high in fat," I said, "But I may be wrong," but I didn't feel like I was. Something was nagging me, "What did the vampire who picked Willow up look like?"

"Ugly shirt and leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up," Cordy said, "Why?"

"He wasn't part of the group I fought last night," I said, "That means someone had to kill him."

"Think the three of them could have overpowered him?"

"No," I shook my head, "They weren't fighters... which means that they were rescued by someone who was."

"Maybe another vampire?" she asked.

I shook my head, "Another vampire wouldn't have let them get away... there might be another demigod here."

"Buffy Summers?" Cordelia guessed.

"Maybe," I said, "Follow her, she's probably going to the Bronze tonight. I'll see if I can whip up something I learned in Tartarus to see if she has any immortal blood in her."

**Next up, the fight at the Bronze, and a possible showdown between Percy and Buffy. Cast your votes for who you want to win!**


	4. Harvest Thwarted

**Percy**

"That is nasty," Cordy observed.

"Yep," I agreed, "But short of finding a satyr, it's the only way of finding out if Buffy Summers is a half-blood."

Blood being the key word. I slashed Riptide across my palm. It hurt a lot less compared with some of the other things I have done. I let the blood drip into the frying pan, collecting in one corner. Once I had a good amount (okay, once I started to feel sick), I thrust my hand into a big bucket of water. I learned that it takes a lot of water to heal wounds, depending on the size. That's why I can't just carry a water bottle and be invincible. To heal a slash like this, I'd need at least five gallons of water. Even then, it took a minute to close and heal.

Once I was healed, I took a flambaye lighter from they're drawer (after spending an hour looking for it. Apparently, Cordy's family never used their kitchen. They always hired a cook) and trained the flame on the blood. I watched as the blood began to boil and steam. It eventually began to catch flame itself, burning away until the only thing left was a small amount of gold liquid. _Ichor,_ the gold blood of the immortals.

When Heracles died, the gods anointed his body with ambrosia and nectar, and set it on fire, burning away all the mortal parts of his body, leaving only his immortal half, making him a god. With small stuff like this, I wouldn't need the godly food.

I collected the gold blood into an empty glass salt shaker, taping a cotton ball over the holes to prevent it from leaking. Cordy asked, "And what will this do?"

"Tartarus is the only way you can truly destroy a monster," Percy said, "Minus a vampire, because they are already dead. Once a monster is dispelled, their soul goes to Tartarus, reviving itself on all the negative aspects of humanity. Down there, however, there is no where to go. Kill them in there, and they truly die," I shivered. I didn't like the place, "So, instead of just turning to dust, they actually bleed. Only those with immortal blood can imbibe _ichor_, so if I were to drop this on you, it would simply drip off. If it were to fall on a demigod-"

"It would absorb through the skin," Cordy finished.

"You're smarter than you act," I said with a smile.

"Hey!" she protested, "You're one to talk, Mr Thrift Shop!"

"I miss my iPod," I said, "You still have that charm?"

She held up the little silver trident pendant, "Where did you get this, anyway?"

"Annabeth made them," I said, "In the Underworld. The one your holding is attuned to me. Mine," I showed her the one I carried, except it was an owl, "Is attuned to Annabeth. We can always find each other."

"That's so sweet," Cordy said, "Was this before or after she went crazy?"

"Sometimes, Cordy," I said, "Sometimes you need to not say words."

* * *

"We evacuate the Bronze," Buffy said.

"How do we do that?" Xander asked.

"Pull the fire alarm?" Giles suggested.

"There isn't one," Willow said.

"How can it not have a fire alarm?" Buffy asked, "That is really unsafe."

"Have you ever really looked at the building?" Xander said, "Neither have we. Anyone who does doesn't go near that place again."

"Then why would anyone go to such a place?" Giles asked.

"We're teenagers," Buffy said, "We don't need an excuse to be stupid."

"Jackson," Willow warned in a hushed whisper. As one, their eyes flicked to the young man, wearing a surplus army jacket and tattered jeans. He seemed to be studiously ignoring them, his gaze falling right past them. He wasn't even considerate enough to pass around the group, going right between Buffy and Xander, bumping shoulders with Buffy in the process. She was so pissed off at him, she didn't even feel the cool sensation slide down her hand.

Buffy glared at him but continued on. Percy looked back, took in the small drops of gold blood on the sidewalk, and continued down an ally.

Right into another dozen vampires.

"Crap."

* * *

Buffy stopped when she heard the growl of the vampires. She turned and saw two of them running to the Bronze at full speed. She didn't even turn to the others when she commanded "Run!"

She sprinted towards the two vampires, ducking as one swiped at her and landing a solid kick to the chest on the other one, sending it flying. Vamp 1 turned to Buffy, and threw a punch that connected to her jaw, snapping her head back and generally annoying her. She threw one back, knocking the vamp to the ground. She drew her stake, but before she could stab him, the other vampire tackled her.

She rolled and kicked Vamp 2 back into the wall, managing to land on her feet. Vamp 1 got up and threw himself at her. She kicked his shin, bringing him to a knee, and thrust the stake into his heart. He let off a scream of pain and dissolved to dust. Vamp 2 grabbed her shoulders and threw her against the wall, returning the favor, and pinned her there.

"Damn Slayer," he growled, "Since when are there two of you?!"

She kneed him in balls, and as he bent down in pain, she staked him in the heart. As he turned to dust, she thought, _2 Slayers?_

Not wasting any time, she ran down the alley, following the path the vampires had gone. She could feel a presence, a gathering of power that pulled her like a compass. But that would do her no good in the maze of alleys. She jumped, grabbed a fire escape, and pulled herself up. Within seconds, she was on the roof, making a beeline for whatever was making her Slayer sense tingle.

She got there just in time.

The only light was coming from the sword, casting long shadows in it's dim glow. The warrior was gracefully, in a wild, uncontrolled way. It was like seeing a lion fight. Ducked, jumped, dodged, and swung with wild abandon, fending off vampires, taking a few down for good. Except for one.

She could tell it was the same vampire who almost killed her earlier. No one else was that large. Luke let out a roar and swung his meaty fist. The warrior blocked it with the flat of his blade, bracing it against his forearm. Still, he staggered back a few steps. He moved to counter, but another vampire attacked when he exposed himself, forcing him on the defensive again.

He ducked the vampire's attack, and forced him back with a wild swing of the blade. It was almost beautiful. He brought himself to the edge of control, barely containing himself, maximizing ferocity without losing control. Luke threw another swing, exposing his back to Buffy. She had an idea, but it would work only once.

Luke never saw the stake fly through the air and impale his heart. He let out a feral scream before exploding into dust.

The other vampires looked up, snarled, and ran, leaving Buffy on the roof, the warrior on the ground.

The figure turned, his face hidden in the shadows caused by his blade. But she could feel his eyes lock onto her.

And then he turned and ran.

"Oh, no you don't," Buffy said to herself before leaping down, landing ontop of the warrior, knocking his sword away.

The man recovered quickly, rolling out, causing her to trip. He kicked out, landing a blow to her chest. It didn't have enough force to actually hurt, but it propelled her back some.

The two opponents looked at each other, neither able to find any distinguishing features, other than he was male and she was female.

They launched themselves at each other.

She initially had the advantage. She managed a right hook into his side, eliciting a grunt of pain. She swung again at his head, but he ducked and rammed into her with his shoulder. She tripped and rolled recovering and throwing a kick of her own at him.

He stepped in and blocked with his knee, grabbed her shoulder, and swept her leg out from under her, slamming her into the ground with enough force to actually hurt. She grabbed his shoulder and tried to throw him off, but he held on. He grabbed her arm, braced his feet, and pushed, rolling her and putting him at her back.

He threw his arm around her throat. She sucked in deep before it closed on her windpipe, but it never did. Instead, the muscles in his arms flexed, squeezing the sides of her neck. She dimly recalled Merrick telling her that that was how you knocked someone out quickly, shutting off blood flow to the brain.

She snapped her head back, hitting his nose, causing a warm wetness to travel down her neck. She reached behind her, grabbed his shoulders, and using every muscle in her body, pulled him in front of her. He landed on his back and kneed her in the face.

Buffy scrambled back, and the dim light suddenly went out. She heard the sound of sneakers pounding the pavement. She panted, too tired to follow. Indeed, if she were honest with herself, she'd say that she got her ass kicked.

* * *

"Remember," Buffy said to the three, "Keep your eye out for anyone with a bruised arm and broken nose. That's probably our guy."

"Got it," Jesse said, "Aaaand, it is _not_ suspect number 1."

Buffy looked around and saw Jackson, open his locker and pulled a book out. His bare forearms betrayed no bruise, and his nose was as straight as it had ever been. Buffy said, "Whatever. If it's not him it's not him," but she could have sworn...

**Cordelia**

"Buffy have some mystical secrets to keep?" I asked Percy as he walked to class.

"No," he said slipped right off her, "But whoever it is, she's strong," he shrugged, "Problem is, they're inexperienced, not trained well."

"Does this mean you beat her?"

He shook his head, "She got my by surprise. Looking back, I could have beaten her if I stayed, but it wasn't worth the risk if those vampires showed-" he stopped talking as the teacher opened the door. He quietly took his seat at the back of the class. I never understood his reason behind that choice. He's dyslexic and ADHD, so he'd have trouble even he stood at the front of the class.

I shrugged and took my seat by the window while the teacher began his class.

"It is time," he said with relish, "For the ever-so exciting group literature project," some of the class remained silent, knowing that they would do all the work and accepting it, some groaning in dispare, and some grinning in glee, because they wouldn't do a damn thing, "Yes, yes. Every year I get to watch such young men and women like yourselves butcher classic literature in an amazing fashion. Now, before I get to the guidelines of the project, yes, I have already picked partners. Let us begin...

"Jackson, I hope you enjoy shopping and the great works of Washington Irving, because you and Miss Summers are going to tell me exactly what Irving was getting at in _Rip Van Winkle."_

I looked back at Percy. He straightened, blinked, and said, "Isn't that a nursery rhyme?"

**A note to those for whom would debate as to who won that fight:**

** Percy is nowhere near a source of water, so the majority of his power is absent. That said, he would have had the advantage over Buffy in terms of skill and a weapon if I didn't take it ****away from him early in the fight. But, that still left his experience and training vs Buffy's raw physical strength. As some one who is professionally trained to fight, it doesn't matter how big your bullet is if you can't shoot straight (which is why I prefer my M4 over Aks). Simply, if the fight had continued, Percy would have been the clear victor, eventually. He would have eventually gotten his sword back, or would have landed a blow on a soft spot.**

** In Buffy's favor was her obvious greater strength, and the fact that Percy was in a prolonged battle before she showed up. Plus, the majority of Percy's battles, he's had help, even if it was only from Annabeth giving him tactical advice. Buffy, however is used to the solo fight by now (for those of you who haven't, I strongly suggest reading the prequel comics to the series. I can only pray every day that I could maybe get an actual photo of Sarah Michelle Gellar in the Vegas Coat Check Girl costume from the comics.)**

** But again, training and experience wins every time. Here's how:**

** If Buffy is throwing him around like a rag doll, the key is not to let her get both hands on you. In the dim light of the alley, he wouldn't be able to see her punches well enough to block, so he stepped in close and started wrestling. While this may sound like I just contradicted myself, if you have been doing it long enough, it is possible to wrestle while blind (They made a movie about that. Can anyone give me the name?) Buffy wouldn't have near enough experience to do that, and at that distance, he can apply enough force and pressure to actually do damage, despite Buffy's near-invulnerability. If he uses his own body weight against a relatively small area, he can manipulate her from said small area (I can make a man stand up, kneel down, run, walk, turn, bend over, and jump with one hand, just by grabbing his interlocking fingers.)**

** But I have to give props to Guest, whoever you are. Those good insights actually helped me make the fight more balanced, rather than having Percy totally own Buffy.**

** PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. Study Buddies

**Percy**

"He slept for 20 years?" Buffy asked, "How is that possible?"

I once slept for six months, but I didn't say that, "I could do it," I said, "But I would need a lot of soda."

"Wouldn't that keep you awake?"

"I'm ADHD," I said, "Sugar and caffeine calm me down."

"ADHD?"

"Attention-Deficient, Hyperactive Dis- Hey a moth," I pointed. I know it's a stereotype, but moths are so cool.

"In England we just call it being lazy and spirited," the librarian chipped in.

"Don't you people also put kidneys in pies?" I countered.

"Point goes to Jackson," Buffy said, "So, Giles, what is this story about?"

"Read it for yourself," Giles said.

That could be a problem, but I only asked, "Do you have it on audiobook?"

"Audiobook?" Giles asked. The look on his face would have suggested that I asked if him if he had boiled his first born alive, "Audiobook?"

"We better go," Buffy suggested. I agreed. Giles was getting weird.

"_Audiobook?!_"

* * *

"Hey mom," Buffy greeted.

"Hey," a pretty middle aged woman greeted back. She smiled a bit, and I noticed she had lines on the sides of her eyes, like she smiled a lot, "Who's your friend?"

"This is Jackson," Buffy greeted, "We're doing a project in school together. Jackson, this is my mom, Joyce."

"Pleased to meet you," she said as she held out her hand, "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask."

I liked her, "It's nice to meet you," I said, "My friends call me Percy."

"Your first name is Percy?" Buffy said, "You have friends?"

"Yes, I have friends," I said, "And of course my first name is Percy."

"I have never heard you been called Percy."

I was about to argue, but then I thought about it. No one but Annabeth and Cordy call me Percy, and that's only when no one is watching, "So, no one knows my first name?"

"No one," she said.

"What else don't they know about me?" I asked, suddenly self conscious.

"Well," she got a thoughtful look in her eye, "We think you were held back a few years..."

Oh she has no idea, "Why?"

"Because you look like your nineteen."

"I'm only sixteen," I said. I guess my time in the underworld had a physical effect beyond making me slightly stronger, "What else?"

"You were in a gang-"

"What?!" I said, "Now you're just making things up."

"I'm just telling you what I've heard," Buff defended, "You've been to jail..."

I'm glad my mother is not here.

* * *

Jackson- Percy- settled on the couch with a book in front of him. He scowled at it, and began to read, extremely slowly and haltingly, "'That age what- when a man can be idle with impu-impunty-im-'"

"Impunity?"

"What does that mean?"

"Without fear of consequences," Joyce said, "You wouldn't happen to have dyslexia, would you?"

"Yeah," Percy answered.

"What's dyslexia?" Buffy asked.

"I have trouble reading," Percy admitted.

"His brain works in three dimensions," Joyce explained, coming in with a large pizza box.,"It makes reading words difficult, but maps come easily for you, right?"

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, looking surprised, "Now that I think about it, yeah."

"So, what, you just physically can't read?" Buffy asked.

"More like words jumble themselves when I try," Percy explained as he grabbed a slice, folded it in half, and began to eat.

"Why do you eat pizza like that?" Buffy asked.

"Like what?"

"Folding it in half."

"Everyone eats pizza like this where I come from."

"And where is that?"

"New York."

"You're sure a long way from home," Joyce interjected.

He chuckled bitterly, like he felt he was on the bad end of a joke, "Yeah, I've been told."

"So, how'd you end up in Sunnydale?" Joyce asked.

He thought about it for a moment, "A boat."

"So, you're from New York, and you came to California on a boat," Buffy said, "I've heard wierder tales."

"Where?" Percy asked, obviously disbelieving.

"Have you heard what goes into the mystery meat at the school cafeteria?"

"It's scarier," Percy admitted, "But... no, no, it _is_ weirder."

"And the fact that that is your _second_ slice of pizza," Buffy said.

"So?"

"A) Chew your food, or you will choke," Joyce said, "B) The food isn't going anywhere. You can slow down."

Percy looked at the pizza like he didn't believe her. Now that Buffy was paying attention, she noticed how thin he was. His facial bones stood in sharp contrast, and he had no baby fat on him. Now that he had taken his coat off, she saw that his arms weren't exactly huge, but they were thick with corded muscle, and the skin was stretched taught over them. His shirt was faded and had holes near the collar. His jeans were ripped and torn, not for fashion, but from genuine wear. At least they were clean, but they looked faded in some areas, like he hand washed them in harsh hand soap instead of using a washing machine.

"Where do you live?"

Percy looked incredulous, "What is this twenty questions? Aren't we supposed to be reading this story?"

"Well, you are dyslexic ADHD skater-boy, and I'm a busy girl with trouble concentrating, so we are going to need even more help. And I know exactly where we can find it."

* * *

"So, your idea for making me concentrate is to bring me to a club?" Percy asked.

"Where are you putting all this food?" After eating half their pizza and most of their leftovers, Percy had gotten a large plate of chili fries from the bar in the back of the Bronze.

"My stomach," he said as if it were obvious.

"Okay, simple answer to your question," Willow said, "The story is basically saying that the world doesn't really change, at least not the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. He sleeps for twenty years, and just goes back to the same old ways, just sitting around doing nothing."

"Doesn't sound that bad," Percy said.

"No, it doesn't," Willow agreed, "And you don't look like a Percy. Not that there's anything-"

"Just say it," Percy said, "Promise, I won't get mad."

"Oh," Willow looked relieved. Buffy noticed that she took to Percy a lot faster than she took to her. It may have been the fact that Percy seemed to exude a confidence in everything he did, putting everyone around him at ease, saying _relax, I got this_. She imagined he when he flossed, it was just awesome.

She hated it.

"Well, Percy is just something that you would find in rich boy circles," Willow said, "You know, pretentious snotty boys with trust funds."

He shrugged, "I know the type."

"Well, you don't look like one of them," Willow said.

"My full name is Perseus," he said, "My mom had a thing for Greek heroes."

"Are you Greek?" Buffy asked, "You kind of look it. Dark hair, tan..."

"Like every other guy in California?" Percy said. And then he frowned, and his eyes flicked to the dance floor.

Buffy felt the slight cold breeze. It amazed her that she could feel it over the buzzing aura that surrounded Percy. She looked around herself, and found him.

It was the man that warned her about the Harvest.

"Will you excuse me?" Buffy said.

She got off her stool and followed the man outside. She kept her arms crossed and her feet planted, not really trusting him.

"I take it you heard," the man said.

"Heard about what?" Buffy demanded.

"There's a new sheriff in town," he said, "Someone's been slaying demons. At first I thought it was you-"

"But a glowing bronze sword isn't my style," Buffy said, "Wouldn't two demon slayers be a good thing?"

"Slaying demons doesn't mean you're a good guy," he said, "And just being you attracts demons and monsters. But two powerful entities..."

"So, one of us is going to have to leave town," Buffy said, "Or this Hellmouth will become even more Hellmouthy."

"Any leads on who it could be?" the man said.

"No," Buffy shook her head, "Can you keep your eye out... look at me, asking for favors when I don't even know your name."

"Angel," he smiled. The name fit the man.

"Do you think you can keep and eye out, Angel?"

"And an ear open."

* * *

"This Angel has a point," Giles said, "Two powerful entities do have the tendancy to attract trouble."

"Okay," Buffy said, "Think, 'What has the power to slay half a dozen vampires at once?'"

"Nothing human," Giles said, "A highly trained team, working together, maybe. But a lone fighter? Only a Slayer can beat those odds, and only a very skilled one at that."

"Well, it was obviously a he," Buffy said.

"Maybe some sort of benevolent demon?" Giles suggested.

"Is that possible?"

"There have been instances," Giles cleaned his glasses, "Did you sense a demonic aura last night?"

"No," she shook her head, "It felt... different."

"I might find some thing," Giles said, "Magical performance enhancers, instances of normal humans born with super powers. His weapon may be some clue as to where he came from. I'll look up everything I can about celestial bronze."

"I don't want surprises," Buffy said as she gathered up her books from the library, "Thank God I think I got Percy Jackson figured out."

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	6. Faces revealed

_"It's Buffy."_

"I would have thought you'd throw this number away..."

_"Almost did."_

"What do you need?"

_"A favor."_

"It's good to hear from you."

_"Same. Interested?"_

"With you? Always."

* * *

**Cordelia**

I landed on my but for the third time in as many minutes. At least the ground was padded with old mattresses.

"How do I keep losing?" I said.

"Because I've been training since I was twelve," Percy said, "Come on, you almost got it."

I rolled my eyes. Annabeth clapped three times. She had taken to watching Percy school me in fighting. I think that it took the place of cable for them. To be fair, Percy was a good teacher. I was just unlucky in that I was a bad student and I was an ordinary mortal human.

"Look," he took my wrist gently and wrapped my fingers around his thumb, "The thumb has a lot of nerves, it feels a lot of pain. But it is structurally weak. Even if I had the near-invulnerability of a vampire, you can generate more that enough power to snap it."

"How?" I said, "I can barely do a pull up."

"Your weight," Annabeth said, "Use what you have..."

"Did you just call me fat?" I demanded.

"No," Percy said.

"Yes," Annabeth corrected, a wistfully amused look on her face, like she found it funny in a distant way.

"Any way," Percy raised his voice and stepped between us, "It takes about four pounds of pressure to break a thumb. If a monster is ten times stronger than a human, it would take..." he paused to do the math.

"Forty pounds of pressure," I said, "But if I got that close to a monster, wouldn't I be pretty much beaten anyway?"

"This would be a last ditch move to escape," he said, "Monster has his hands around your throat. Grab thumb, twist," he gently guided my hands in the motion, "And push," with that, he dropped to a knee, a look of slight pain on his face as I applied the pressure, "Do it hard and fast enough, and your enemy's thumb is broken."

"You know, I used to worry about breaking a nail," I said, "Now look at me, worrying about breaking a monster's thumb."

"I always wonder why you help us," Percy said.

"You saved my life," I said.

"I've saved a lot of mortals," He said as he wiped his forehead. Without air conditioning, it was unpleasantly warm in the warehouse, "Most just forget about it and leave."

"She's different," Annabeth said, "Clear water looks shallow."

"What does that mean?" I said.

He shrugged, "It always makes sense later down the road."

"She's not getting any better, is she?"

He sighed, his good mood being replaced by worry, "I thought that getting out of Tartarus would be the hard part. But I don't know how I can help her, the only one I know who can is in New York."

"Why not go there?"

"I have no money," he said, "After we were dumped here, it was everything I could do to find food, and Annabeth is in no condition for extended travel."

"Hey," I said, resting a hand on his shoulder, "She'll be fine."

He looked at me, his sea green eyes so sad and lost, like a puppy. I wondered how Annabeth ever won an argument when he could just pull that look. And then he smiled, "Okay, now that you have the thumb break down, lets get back to that throw."

Crap.

* * *

Angel inhaled deep, trying to find a smell that didn't belong. He had found Darla's scent, weak, but noticeable, a while back. This high school wasn't the cleanest of places, for which he was thankful. If they used powerful cleaners, it would make it harder for him to discern odd scents.

His grip on his sword tightened. Something was definitely odd, not right at this school. He could easily pick up Buffy's scent, like the herbs of his mother's garden from when he was a child, earthy and pure. But something smelled wrong here too. Like coffee, right under his nose, the kind whose very smell made you awake. It wasn't any kind of human that he had ever scene, or smelled, nor any kind of demon.

A faint sound hit his ears. He tilted his head, and stopped breathing. It sounded like a motorcycle pulling into the parking lot of the school. Probably some teenager looking to pull a prank. He ignored it and kept walking, no longer interested.

He followed the scent, looking for the area where it was the strongest, focusing on the lockers, the one area he would have to return to every passing period.

He vaguely heard a human heart close by, but it was dark, and he wouldn't be scene as long as he kept to the shadows.

Until a breeze blew the human's scent right into him.

It was like being given a shot of adrenaline. He snarled, his demon visage clawing it's way out, and turned to the human, "You."

It was the human who was with Buffy at the Bronze, Something Jackson. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. Angel could feel the power radiating from him, along with the smell. It made him want nothing more than to fight him.

He uncapped the pen, causing a three foot long sword to grow into his grip.

"Nifty," Angel said, "But why not try a man's metal?" I said, bringing my broad sword to guard.

"It works against monsters like you," he said, "More than enough."

"I'm giving you a fair warning," Angel said, "Back off."

"No mortals here," he said, gesturing around, "Unless you count the idiot who's going to TP the front office. So what draws you here?"

"Hunting you," he replied, "Your smell is... unique."

"Never smelled a half-blood before?" he said, "I'm surprised."

"You want some advice?" Angel said closing the distance slowly, "Leave town. Go south and east. Vampires hate the open desert."

"Bad experiences there."

"You'll have worse here."

"I've faced down a dozen of your kind."

"None like me."

He said nothing. Just swung his sword.

He was as fast as Angel was, but not as strong. It didn't matter. With his sword, he could sever flesh with less than a pound of pressure.

Angel had been fighting for over two hundred years, and was a prodigy in his clan with the sword as a human. But this man was _good_.

He swung with wild abandon, never attacking the same way twice. He dodged as much as blocked, defended with as much ease as he attacked. He was the most dangerous kind of sword fighter. He was a balanced kind, able to pull an infinite number of improvisations from his list of moves.

Angel needed to take away his most dangerous asset, his maneuverability. Angel stepped to his right and swung with all his strength, sacrificing speed for power. He took the bait and blocked, but it forced him back, making him back into the lockers. He tried to side step, but he forced him back with a fast upward swing. Angel was reward with a look of fear in his eyes.

"Ahem," I heard behind me.

Angel stepped back, keeping his sword pointed at Jackson. A small blonde girl with hair falling over her face with stormy gray eyes. Oddly, she would have reminded him of Buffy except that this girl was clearly insane. She had that look in her eyes.

She wagged her finger at Angel, like he was a naughty boy. Angel flicked his eyes to Jackson. He said, "Don't look at me. You're her problem now."

"Shouldn't fight," she said, "Distracts from true threat."

"What true threat?" Angel demanded.

"Not an enemy," she said, "But not an ally either. Down the road things change."

"What is she talking about?" Angel asked Jackson.

"Don't ask me," he said, "I could barely understand her when she was sane."

"Sanity is relative."

"Oh, not this again."

"Stop!" Angel said, "Who are you people?!"

Her kick sent Angel flying. She was _fast_.

Angel landed on his back and rolled back onto his feet, snarling. She got him by surprise. Angel heard her say in an offended tone, "I don't like to be interrupted."

He swung his sword at her, making her take a step back. She drew a knife of the same glowing bronze metal as his sword. He swung again and she blocked it, absorbing the blow. And that's when Angel realized.

She was just as strong as Angel, a two hundred year old vampire.

And her fighting was erratic. She would attack in a frenzy one second, using the speed of her knife to it's fullest extent, and then move to the defensive the next, moving only when necessary.

Angel needed to end this. Angel swung, she blocked, and he kicked out, connecting with her shin. She dropped to a knee and held her knife with both hands. He backhanded it out of hers.

Jackson charged in as soon as he realized that the girl lost control of the fight. But what he failed to realize that Angel knew how to use two opponents to his advantage.

Angel stepped left, putting the unarmed girl between him and Jackson. As Jackson tried to sidestep around her, Angel struck her temple with the flat of his blade.

Jackson brought his weapon down in a ferocious arc, so fast that Angel almost missed it. Jackson swung his left hand in a clawing motion, and Angel heard the pipes grown before a water fountain exploded into him, a piece of it hitting his head, causing him to see stars.

When he recovered, he saw Jackson running away, the blonde girl on his back. He glanced over and saw that they had left the dagger behind.

**Buffy, the next night.**

It probably didn't hurt as much as it looked, but it _looked_ pretty painful.

Angel landed hard on his back, the breath knocked out of him. I scowled, and said angrily, "Since when were you going to tell me you were a _vampire_?"

He groaned, "How'd you figure it out?"

"I have a source," I said cryptically, "Was it some sort of long play? Get me to trust you and then you kill me when my back was turned?"

"Not like that," He said.

"What was it you wanted?" I demanded, stepping off the edge of the Bronze, landing on my feet next to him. I didn't even break a heel, "To 'kill them all'? Set yourself up as the local head vampire?"

"No!" he protested getting up, "Listen, I know who the other demon slayer is-"

"And why should I trust you?" I demanded.

_"Because you can feel it, can't you?"_

I whirled around and saw Percy, standing on a fire escape on the warehouse next to the Bronze. He continued, "You can feel it. He's not evil. He's a monster, but he's not evil."

I looked at Angel. Yes, I could sense it. He was a demon, sure. But he wasn't evil.

"And you're not human," I directed this at Jackson.

"Half right," he said, "And what, exactly, are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I challenged.

"Don't try to pick fights you can't win," Percy said.

"I did pretty good the last time," I said.

"I went easy on you," he smiled, but had that predatory look in his eye. I could tell that he wasn't joking, despite his obvious amusement.

I bit my lip, thinking. There was too much I didn't know, and I didn't like it. I had a good vampire, someone- or thing- that could probably kick my ass that I knew next to nothing about other than he had learning disabilities and a bottomless pit for a stomach, a blonde girl I _did_ know nothing about, and somehow Cordelia's car fit into this.

I looked at Angel, "We need to talk, don't we?"

**This chapter is dedicated to Monster Energy Drink, for keeping me awake on post all night and enabling me to write this. **

** Also, I give this warning: when the can says to consume only 1 can in four hours, and not exceed 3 a day, they mean don't consume 4 in 30 minutes, especially when you rarely partake in energy drinks. Then things get interesting. Like making your heart feel like it's going to explode. Or like disparaging the TV at 2 AM for not having anything on. With a noble British accent.**

** Good God, Mr. Television, do you not know how to make quality programing anymore?! I mean really, informative commercials on every channel except the Spanish ones?...**


	7. Meeting of Heroes

** Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I spent all last week in the field than went to Vegas for the weekend.**

"Wait," Xander interrupted, "Cordelia Chase is being _nice?!_"

"Yeah," Percy said, "If it wasn't for her, I probably would have starved to death."

"Back to the question," I said, "What's the story of you powers?"

"You know those old Greek myths about heroes and monsters?"

Giles straightened his glasses, "Yes, I enjoy them very much."

"They're not stories," Percy said, "The gods are real, and sometimes they have affairs with mortals, creating demigods-"

"Like Hercules," Willow said.

"These heroes often bring trouble with them," Angel pointed out, "Lot of tragic endings."

"It's our smell," Percy said, "You've noticed it, haven't you? The more powerful the godly parent, the more powerful the demigod, the more monsters feel the need to challenge them."

' "So, assuming we believe you," Buffy said, "What god is you parent?"

"Or goddess," Willow interjected, "Don't want to leave out anyone who might be offended."

"Poseidon," he said, "God of Seas, earthquakes, and horses."

Everyone remained silent for a moment, before turning to Xander. Feeling everyones eyes on him, he asked, "What?"

"Where's the smart comment?" Buffy asked.

"This is the perfect time for a sarcastic one liner," Willow pointed out.

"I-I," Xander screwed his face in concentration for a second, and then sighed sadly, "I have nothing!"

"Nothing?"

"Nothing!" Xander said, "The whole Cordelia being nice thing has me at a block," he put his head in his hands.

"Aww," Willow rubbed his shoulder, "Don't feel bad. It happens to everyone."

"Not to me!" Xander said, "I'm only sixteen!"

"Don't worry," Willow said, "We'll wait a few hours and try again..."

Leaving the two to continue their conversation, I said, "And here I thought I had heard it all."

"Same here," Percy said, "You've heard my dish. What about yours?"

"The Vampire Slayer," Buffy said, "Ever since there have been vampires, there has been one girl in all the world with the strength to defeat the forces of darkness."

"A chosen one," Percy said.

"You sound like your familiar with the term."

"Intimately," Percy muttered, turning to Angel, "What about you?"

"Killed the favorite daughter of a tribe of gypsies," Angel said, "They were powerful practitioners of magic. They cursed me with a soul, made me remember everything I had done, and feel remorse for it."

"That's why you couldn't feel the evil in him," Percy said, "Why I couldn't either."

"No, it's there," Angel said, "It's buried deep, but it's there."

"Being a monster doesn't necessarily mean being evil," Percy said, "Believe me."

"But there is still a question," Angel said, "What to do about the three of us?"

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Three extremely powerful beings," Percy said, "A demigod, a vampire with a soul, and a Slayer. Between the three of us, we throw out a powerful aura. Monsters and demons will flock to Sunnydale. But, it could be worse."

"I'm waiting to hear this," Angel said.

"In all the old stories, three is the most powerful number," Percy said, "Three Primodial beings, Three Sons of Cronus, Goldilocks and the Three Bears-"

"You made the last one up," Buffy accused.

He smiled, "Yeah, but you got the point, right? Three heroes, that's what's always- well, almost always, succeeded. The Fates have brought us together for a reason, don't you see?"

"And what reason is that?" Buffy asked.

"The Master," Angel said, "You think the three of us can defeat the Master."

"He's trapped underground," Buffy said, "Can you make an earthquake or something?"

Percy sighed and shook his head, "No," he said, "The only time it worked, I'm not sure how I did it, nearly killed myself, and almost released one of the most fearsome monsters in existence."

"So _your_ the reason Cordelia walks these halls," they heard Xander call, followed by his self congratulatory whoop at the return of "mojo".

"Not quite," Percy said, "Is she really that bad with people?"

* * *

**Buffy**

"So, how'd you get in?" I asked as I set my purse on the table.

Pike appeared in the hall doorway, huge grin on his face, "Picked the lock," he said shamelessly, "How'd you know I was here?"

"Saw your bike by the trashcans," I said, pulling him in for a hug, "It's good to see you."

He hugged back, "Same here," he stepped away, and looked at me, "You look good. I guess small town life agrees with you."

"Hardly," I scoffed, "You will never believe the day I had."

"Well, I know a certain vamp is walking the halls still," He said, "And some guy is powerful enough to go up against him and live. Not to mention the girl."

"Girl?" I said, "What girl?"

"There was a girl at the school last night," he said, "With Jackson. She actually was able to fight the vampire pretty well, actually."

"He never mentioned that," Buffy said, "What did she look like?"

"It was dark," he said, "Blonde, thin, small, a lot like you, actually."

I cocked an eyebrow at him, "In a good way," he defended, "She had a knife, same glowing bronze metal as the sword Jackson carries."

"Were they together?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "I didn't follow them, because you wanted me to stay on the vamp. Can't believe you didn't spot that, by the way."

"There were circumstances," I defended, "I was busy trying to figure out who the sword swinging maniac was."

"Which I did for you," Pike said, "Why did you ask that, by the way? Why not trust the vampire?"

"His name's Angel," I corrected, "As much as I don't like it, he's not a bad guy."

"Cute and cuddly vampire?"

"Vampire with a soul," I said, "Gypsy curse."

"And sword-man?"

"Son of a Greek sea god."

"Life was simpler in LA."

"Tell me about it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Keep tabs on Jackson," I said, "Angel's a vampire. It was amazing you were able to tail him as long as you did."

"I take slight offense to that," Pike smiled, "I've been busy since the last time you saw me."

"What _have _you been doing all this time?" I asked, curious.

"This and that."

* * *

**Percy**

Chinese with the girls. How did I end up here?

"So, he's a vampire?" Cordelia asked.

"Yep."

"With a soul?"

"Yep."

"How does that work?"

"Gives him a set of morals," I said, "Makes him feel for what he has done."

"Never gone," Annabeth said between bites of chicken, "Just under a tarp. Out of sight, out of mind."

"I think I get that one!" Cordelia said.

"You get nothing," Annabeth replied.

Cordy glared at my girlfriend, "That's rude."

"Get what you give," she replied.

"Ladies," I said, "Focus, I don't trust either of them as far as I can throw them."

"What about heroes always come in threes?" Cordy said.

"Trust is earned," Annabeth said, "With time and deeds."

"Exactly," I said, "On our first-"

"You need to trust them," Annabeth said, "Without them, home never comes."

"What did you say?" I asked.

"She must survive," Annabeth said, "Her blade is rusty, her shield rotted. Oak and iron do no good without care."

"I think I get that one too!" Cordy exclaimed.

"If you don't I will hit you," Annabeth threatened.

Again, how did I end up here?

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	8. Rusted Sword and a bit of Magic

**I just realized that I had completely left out Willow and Xander's take on all that has been going on, seeing as how they play such an important part of the show.**

"I wonder if Percy can surf real well," Xander said.

"It stands to logic," Willow pointed out, munching on popcorn as they watched some nameless surfing movie.

"Son of the sea god and all that," Xander continued.

"He may be able to ride horses real well, too," Willow said, "Poseidon did create horses."

"He did?"

"According to legend," Willow said, "Horse back riding, surfing, great body... it's a wonder girls aren't falling all over him."

"You know how to pick up a man's self esteem, Wills," Xander moped.

"I'm a geek, so I don't care about that stuff."

"Sure," Xander said, "Maybe I should get a tan."

"Wouldn't hurt," Willow said as she popped another popcorn in her mouth.

"I don't like this," Xander said.

"Percy? Or Angel?"

"Both," Xander said, "Angel is a two-hundred year old vampire and Percy is the son of some immortal entity that controls two thirds of the earth's surface."

"You think trickery could be afoot?"

"Yep," Xander said, "What if Angel is just biding his time for a moment to strike, and Percy is part of some evil whale plot to flood the world?"

"Stretching it a bit, aren't you?"

"Stretching keeps you from getting cramps," Xander said, "But I'm right about the Angel thing."

"Perhaps," Willow said, "You heard what Percy said, neither he nor Buffy sensed evil in him."

"Well, Buffy didn't sense that Angel was a vampire in the first place," Xander said, "And like I said, how can we trust Percy?"

"I see your logic, and raise you this," Willow said, "Could Percy and Angel help keep Buffy alive during Slayage?"

"Don't we do that?"

"They're more effective," and then Willow thought, "OhmygodwhatifBuffydoesn'tneedus-"

"Breathe Willow!" Xander ordered, "Buffy isn't going to forget about us just because she has some new allies."

**Buffy**

"I think... pant... I forgot... pant... to meet... Xander and Willow..." I panted.

"No dice," Percy didn't even look winded, despite the light sheen of sweat that clung to him "Come on, you're much stronger and faster than me. All you need to do is learn to use it right."

I lifted my sword, which had started out feeling light as a wood stick used to before Slayer strength, but now felt like it was fifty pounds before Slayer. Percy's sword, on the other hand, seemed to always make his sword turn to a blur when we got into it. He gracefully brought his sword to guard. We stayed shock still for a moment, before the flats of our blades touched. And then we danced.

Sparks flung into the air, our blades becoming blurs. Before, I found Percy laughably easy to follow, until he seemed to stop midswing and change direction, knocking my blade to the floor. The first of many. Now, I was exhausted and sore from the whacks Percy has been giving my all day with the flat of his blade. I suppose I should be impressed that he has that much control over his weapon. I was too exhausted to care.

And then Percy knocked my blade out of my hands. Again.

"Figured it out," Percy said, "You swing with your elbow."

"Huh?" I said as I bent over, hangs on knees, and panted.

"Your swing with your elbow," he demonstrated, "Yeah, your arm should proved the general movement, but the finer control should be through the wrist. It's quicker, more controllable."

"Why... pant... are... you... teaching... me... swordplay... again?" I asked.

"Like I said," Percy said, "Your strong and your fast. But I still almost beat you, _without_ a sword, my specialty weapon. This way, you learn about how I fight."

"What about... how I fight?" I asked.

Percy chuckled, "We'll go over barehand tomorrow, okay? I think we're done here."

"Oh, thank God," I gasped, as I grabbed my gym bag and hobbled toward the door. Which Giles promptly came through.

"Oh, Buffy, just in time for you patrol tonight," Giles said.

"I don't think that she's up for it," Percy said before I could protest, "I got it."

"Hey!" I protested.

"I remember my first sword lesson," Percy said, "Do you want to go running off into the woods to be shishkabed by an electric spear?"

When we all looked at him in confusion he said, "Long story, do you want the night off or not?"

"Good point," I said as I continued to hobble toward the door, "Good luck!"

**Percy**

Sunnydale sure became creepy without a sun. I was tempted to draw Riptide, but I figured the whole point of the patrol was stealth, finding trouble instead of attracting it too me. I figured that would attract a lot of trouble, so I kept my sword in pen form.

Still, it was tempting to draw, because my New York instincts were in full panic mode. I guess it comes from ignoring them yelling at you not to enter the park at night. Drug dealers and murderers were in the park at night. I wasn't afraid of them, but nightmares of the park at night still haunt the back dreams of every New Yorker.

"It's laughable," a voice said behind me.

Quicker than a thought, Riptide was drawn and I was in a fighting crouch facing my opponent, before I saw that it was Angel. I sighed and relaxed a bit. Only a bit, "You're sneaky."

"You're not," Angel said, "Your smell radiates for at least two miles. This stealth approach isn't working."

"I always had trouble with stealth," I admitted, "Care to join me?"

He didn't even have the courtesy to shake his head. He just gave me a look that said, _Me, help? Please._

"You say that you're on our side," I accused, "And yet I have never seen you actually fight a vampire."'

"It's the Slayer who wants to protect humanity," Angel said, "I have seen enough of it to know that there are times when humanity is just as bad as demons."

"I ever tell you about the time I went to Atlanta?"

"No."

"We, me and my friends, land outside some presidential library," I explained, "This old lady, the curator-"

"I know who your talking about," Angel said with no change of expression, "Calls everyone 'sugar'."

"Then you already know," I said, "The few bad ones ruin it for the rest of us."

"There's more than a few," Angel said.

"Then the few good ones are worth fighting for," I said stubbornly.

"If you're such a team player," Angel said, "Why haven't you told them about the blonde girl? Annabeth, I think you called her."

That silenced me. I just turned and walked away. This time he followed me.

It was a while into the patrol that I said, "She isn't fighting this fight. Her fight is too get better."

"Insanity doesn't work like that," Angel said, "It's not a flu you can get over after a few days rest."

"I know that," I snapped, "I thought with the weird energy here and all, that it would help a little bit. The best one I know who can deal with insanity is all the way in New York."

"Dionysus," Angel said.

"Exactly," I said, "You've read a bit in two hundred years."

"It's called not owning a TV," Angel said, "We have company."

I looked left, were I felt a cold breeze, and saw a vampire, full demon face, sniffing the air, "You smell tasty," he said, before charging.

I rolled my eyes, and in one fluid motion, drew Riptide, sliced his head off, and capped my sword. His headless trunk fell to the ground before disappearing into dust.

"Nice," Angel said, "Buffy would have stopped to fight, maybe say a few one liners."

"Not my style," I said, "A fight is fought to end it, not for pleasure," oddly enough, that's why I won most of my fights, my enemies took too much pleasure in it and the monologue-ing that came with it, "That amateur stuff will get her killed if she keeps it up."

"And how long have you been doing this?" Angel said.

"I killed my first monster when I was twelve," I shuddered. Not something you will ever forget.

By this time we were leaving the park and entering a "forested" area. When I say that, I don't mean that they were really trees, more like really tall bushes and bamboo that grew around a very dirty river that wound through the edge of town. This time I did draw my sword to give me light to go by, because the nearly full moon was covered by the foliage.

"What about you," I asked, "Even with a soul, you don't need to help us."

"I'm not helping you," Angel said.

That's when it hit, "You like Buffy, don't you?"

"She's a kid," he said.

"Pretty good looking kid," I joked, "You are not to tell Annabeth I said that."

"Then drop it," Angel said.

"You have no sense of humor, do you?" I said.

"None," Angel said.

"Lighten up," I advised, "Chicks dig a funny guy. How do you think I got Annabeth to fall in love with me? My stunning good looks?"

He just glared at me and moved on.

I chuckled a bit and followed before entering a clearing and seeing something that made me shiver, and not from the cold.

On the floor of the forest were two concentric circles, with ancient Greek writing written between them. I squinted, and tried to angle my blade to get a better look. Even though I could get a literal translation, it was like reading Shakespeare, none of it made any sort of sense. I figured if I told Giles that, he would sputter and be all outraged.

"You know what this says, don't you?" Angel said.

"I know what it says," I said, "I don't know what it means."

"Right here," he pointed at one word, "You know what this means?"

"'To call'," I said, "It can also mean 'to beckon', or-"

"It can also mean 'summon'," Angel said, "Someone was trying to summon a monster here."

"Now the question is," I said, standing up, "Did they succeed?"

"Spells like this require the monster's cooperation," Angel said, "If they don't want to come, they don't."

"This is a Hellmouth," I said, "What are the odds that the monster didn't want to show?"

"Not in our favor," Angel said.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	9. Minotaur and fights

**I apologize for not updating. I've had a very busy schedule with doing rifle qualifications and my West Point brother visiting.**

** If you hate me, ask me about my rifle qual. Seriously, it's bad.**

** Buffy**

Jesse, Percy, Giles and me were at the library, researching (or, in Percy and I's case, sitting around twiddling our thumbs) the circles that they found in the park. Jesse was examining a sample while Giles poured over books. Percy put all his intention on annoying Jesse.

"So," Percy asked, "What is it?"

"Ash," Jesse said, looking up from his microscope. Contrary to popular belief, Jesse was actually better than Willow at physical sciences, but chronic laziness and lack of incentive from his parents had led to him barely passing his classes, "It's incredibly fine, but you can make out traces of leaves, branches, and a few dead bugs in it if you look closely enough."

"And that means?" Percy said.

"That whatever was summoned burned the circle into the ground," Jesse said, "It would have taken enormous heat to create this level of disintegration among this material."

"So, magic fire?" I guessed.

"I don't think so," Giles said, "Percy, you mentioned that you were proficient in Ancient Greek, yes?"

"Yeah."

"But you couldn't make out the inscription?" Giles asked. When Percy nodded, Giles set down a drawing of the circles that Angel had made. Percy had to admit, it was pretty accurate, "Have you tried it backwards?"

Percy tilted his head and squinted, "Yeah, makes a little more sense."

"I feared as much," Giles said, "This isn't so much a summoning as it is a 'banishing' if you will," Giles took his glasses and rubbed them, "Instead of bringing a demon from somewhere to here, it was _sent_ from somewhere to here. The inversion of the text, along with the complexity of the inscription, means that whoever, or whatever, sent this is incredibly intelligent, and probably very powerful."

"So, the banishing was what burned the ground?" Percy asked.

"Most likely, yes," Giles answered, "The excess energy from the portal opening would have heated the air very quickly, and very steeply too."

"Any idea what was sent?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not," Giles said, "The name of the demon or monster would have been on the senders side, part of a two-stage spell, if you will. One circle to summon, the inner part, which as you can see, is blank, and the banishing part, which opened the portal."

"Did you see any tracks?" I asked Percy.

He shook his head, "No, it was too dark. Plus, there was a small pond right next too it. It could have used the water to find it's own way out."

"Could Angel smell it?"

"My scent covered it up, apparently," he sounded a bit miffed.

I clenched my fists in frustration. Unfairly, I blamed Percy for this. It could be a coincidence that this spell was in Ancient Greek, and it probably was, but now we had an unknown bad stalking around Sunnydale, on a school night.

"You three, get some rest," Giles ordered, "I will stay, see if I can dig up something more. You two need to be ready to face this thing at any time, which means you need to be rested. Jesse, I know you have a test on American History tomorrow."

"Hey!" I said, "How come you aren't concerned about my grades?"

"Because you are the Slayer," Giles said, "The world may actually end if you put all your efforts into studying."

"Lucky," Jesse quipped.

"Eh, some people are just born that way," I quipped as I gathered my bag, ready to sneak back home.

"So, where did Angel go?" I asked Percy as we exited to the hallway.

"He went off to look for the creature," he said, "Why?"

"No reason," I said quickly.

"Oh," he started laughing, "You _like_ him?"

"What are you, four?"

"Angel and Buffy, sittin' in a tree..." he sang as he turned down the south hallway going to... now that I thought about it, I had no idea where he lived. I looked at my watch. Well, it was too late to go following him and still make it in time to get home to rest for tomorrow's test. I let it slide tonight, but tomorrow, I will be waiting.

**Cordelia**

"Don't go out tonight," Percy warned as I walked to class.

I groaned. Okay, I like the guy, but being seen in public together? "Why?" I said, stressing it to get this conversation over quickly before we were seen talking to each other.

"Something is out there," Percy said, "Worse than usual."

"Fine," I said, peeling off and heading to the quad. I hated being rude like that, he did save my life, but even he agreed that maintaining a cover was safer.

And, damn him, he got me thinking about what could be worse than what was usual for Sunnydale. I have heard him tell plenty of stories about fighting monsters, like the Nemean lion, the Furies, the Medusa, and those were the ones I could pronounce. So far, the only thing we have seen in Sunnydale were vampires, and he handled those easily.

And the worst part... I've changed. I can feel it as I listened to Harmony say something scathing about Rosenburg's dress. Yes, clothes and popularity and looks still played a large part of my Hierarchy of the Universe, but I've seen the way Percy looks at Annabeth sometimes. It makes you feel like you're intruding. And worse, it made me realize that it was the first time I've ever seen someone look at someone else like that. My parents certainly don't look at eachother like that anymore, if they ever did.

I ground my teeth and forced thoughts of Percy and Annabeth from my mind, for once thanking God for schoolwork. I saw in the corner of my eye Harmony shooting me a confused look. I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking about why I wasn't taking part in the usual belittling of those beneath me, except Xander Harris. Harris was a special case, good enough a target yet able to hold his own.

Finally, the final bell rang, and thank God we didn't have cheer practice. I couldn't wait to get out, get a little shopping done before dark, then have a nice relaxing evening in my bath.

I spotted Percy on my way out to the parking lot. He had that bored wolf look on his face. All the other kids avoided him like the plague. Well, they should. If they had seen what he could do, they wouldn't just avoid him. They would either run in terror or bow before him. I laughed at his reaction to the last one would be. Probably blush and stammer something about getting a Coke.

And then I saw him stop and reach into his pocket. Where he kept his pen-sword. He looked at me, and for the first time since I met him he had fear in his eyes.

A loud crash followed by a vaguely cow-like roar came from the other side of the parking lot. Looming over cars and students, at least fifteen feet tall and a bajillion pounds of muscle, stood the weirdest monster I have ever seen. It had the head of a bull, but the body of a ginormous man.

The Minotaur.

He reached down and grabbed somestudents car. With one hand, he flipped the car to us.

Percy would have been squashed had he not lept foreward at the last second. The car smashed into where he had been a blink of an eye before. The car _bounced_, like a some metal monstrosity imitating a child's ball, and flew threw the air again.

Right at me.

I didn't even have time for my life to flash before my eyes.

I felt something heavy and warm smash into me, tackling me to the ground. I felt hot metal pass inches over my head.

"_Xander Harris!"_ I gasped as I saw him roll off me, _"What?! How-?!"_

"Thank me later," he said as he charged off to the monster.

I gaped and shouted "_What are you doing?!"_

**Percy**

I would like to say that the Minotaur was laughably easy. After all, I've beaten it twice before.

But I'd bet that this monster had been what was sent through the portal. And on it's trip through it picked up some juice. For one thing, it wasn't this large last time.

"MOOOOOOO!"It roared as it swung at me. I ducked and rolled out of the way, Riptide drawn. I knew with three limbs on the ground, it would most likely charge. Step aside, swing, battle won.

But it didn't. Instead, it swung his massive head at me. I leaped, landed on it's head. But before I could do anything, I felt my balance leave me. Before I could fall off, I leaped and rolled away from the monster.

Unfortunately, I landed so that my back face to the monster, and could barely see him out of the corner of my eye. If he came at me by my right, I wouldn't be able to see him in time.

I heard him roar and completed my turn. I was shocked at what I saw.

Buffy's friend, Xander, had leaped onto the monster's shoulders, his legs locking together, barely, around it's thick neck as he held onto the base of the horns. The monster tried to reach him, but it's arms were so thick and his head so big that he couldn't reach.

The monster reared and shook itself, trying to rid himself of Xander. It worked. The guy flew off the monster. I took my opportunity. I leaped and stabbed him with Riptide.

It should have killed him, but he just roared and backhanded me, sending me flying into the windshield of a car thirty feet away, all of the breath knocked out of me and making my vision flash a dull red. I dimly saw the monster retreating off into the hills, back into the bush woods.

I heard the sound of high heels and saw Buffy appear to my left, stake in hand, "What happened?" she demanded.

"Minotaur," I gasped, still having trouble breathing, "That way."

She looked like she was about to go after it, but stopped when she heard, "_Xander!"_

**Xander**

Today is a weird day.

To start with, I decide on Cheerios instead of oatmeal. Mom couldn't be trusted to go out and get groceries, at least of the edible nature, so cereal with actual non-spoiled is a treat. I thought it would be a good sign.

Of course not.

Then, I decide to risk my life to save Cordelia's. That's right everyone, Cordelia Chase, my enemy since the sandbox. I almost died saving her. Oh, it gets better. Then, I get the great idea of leaping onto Cow-Man's back and then holding on for dear life. Let me ask you this, if life is so dear why did I get on a monster's back and almost kill myself? I'd say it is because I got caught up in the heat of the moment and wasn't thinking. Then again, I rarely ever think.

After that, Buffy and Willow helped carry me and Percy to the Library, where I met Buffy's mother, who insisted on an explanation until Percy did some sort of Jedi mind trick on her that made her believe the entire thing was an earthquake and that Buffy was fine, and she just wanted to make sure I was alright. I could see that Buffy was of mixed emotions about that.

Willow, Buffy, and Giles then proceeded to lecture me about stupid, dangerous stunts, being very creative with their arguments. Percy just sat down and didn't say anything.

When those three finally quieted down, Percy said, "Can I say something?"

"Please do," Buffy said angrily, still glaring at me.

"They, pretty much covered the whole 'Your an idiot' part," He said, "And they're right. It was stupid and dangerous. But it was also, really, one of the bravest things I have ever seen."

_"Excuse me?"_ Buffy and me asked, while Giles went for "_I beg your pardon?_"

"Like it or not," he said, "Mortals, those without powers, are on the same front lines we are. We can't just keep them in the library," he looked around as if he didn't trust this place. Considering he was ADHD and dyslexic, he probably didn't, "Because when we aren't there, _you_ will be. And I've seen what happens when untrained mortals fight monsters, and Xander got off easy. If, no, _when_ they have to fight again, I'd rather have them at least knowing what they are doing."

Buffy glared at him, "This isn't their fight."

I heard Jesse clear his throat, "Kind of is," he said as he rubbed the scar on his neck.

"I'm not saying that they need to be out there fighting with us," Percy said, "But they need to able to defend themselves."

"He has a point," I dared say.

Buffy shot me a look before turning her wrath back to Percy, "What was that, anyway?"

"The Minotaur."

"I thought Theseus killed the Minotaur," Giles said.

"They don't have souls like we do," Percy said, "They go back to Tartarus, to Hell, and reform on all the negative aspects of civilization. Eventually, they come back."

"Ancient Greek Monster," she grabbed the drawing of the portal from the table, "Ancient Greek spell," she pointed at Percy, "Ancient Greek demigod."

"Are you saying this was _my fault?"_

"One of _my_ friends almost died because someone or _something_ has it out for you!" she yelled.

"So I guess all the vampires around are all here because of you huh?!"

"I can _protect_ them from vampires!" she argued, "Giles was right, there are too many powerful demon-killers in this town! As soon as this monster is dealt with, you are _gone!_"

I saw Percy scowl, his fists clench. The pipes above our head, in the sprinkler system, rattled. I heard groans from the wall. The air seemed to vibrate from his power. I began to worry if Buffy was actually strong enough to force him out if it came to it.

After what felt like hours of feeling the power build up inside of him, Percy finally relaxed, and what felt like a cool ocean breeze exuded from him, "Fine. As soon as the Minotaur is gone, I'll leave."

It was more frightening than if he had released it all at once. Because once you have power, it has to go somewhere, right?

So where did the rest of it go?

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	10. Secrets No More

**I apologize profusely for not updating. My unit was sent to 29 Palms for an Integrated Training Exercise for five weeks, which was the biggest waist of both my and the fellow riflemen in my platoon's time ever. Ask me about it.**

** Pike**

I didn't feel comfortable staking out the old abandoned factory at night, where any wandering vampire could take me out. I came back in the mid afternoon after calling up a contact I made at a university down south.

Yeah... didn't even make it in before I was jumped.

Something heavy and small landed on me, sending me sprawling. I rolled, got up and got into a fighting stance. The figure swept my arms over it's shoulder, stepped close, and swept my feet from under me. It followed me and somehow got me into a nice, painful arm bar.

Yeah, I got my ass kicked by a hundred pound blonde girl.

I waited for her to break the arm, but it never came. Instead, she let go and rolled away. I rolled myself, demanding, "What the hell?!"

"We are close," she said, "But not there yet," she looked at me with eyes too wide, with too much knowledge.

This bitch was _crazy_.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"Annabeth," she droned, "Your friend, the Slayer, trouble."

"In or is?"

"Both," she said, "The King's revenge upon Minos..."

Minos? As in the ancient king of Crete? Despite myself, I ran through all the stories I heard from my self imposed training on the supernatural. After a few seconds, it clicked, "The minotaur?"

"Finally, someone who speaks my language," Annabeth said, her eyes becoming lucid for one brief second. She'd be pretty if she got a good hour of sanity in.

"What about the minotaur?"

"It came to us like a blood hound," she said, "Keeper of keys holds the leash..."

"Hecate?" it seemed that she liked Ancient Greek stuff.

"We need to keep you around," she said, "And we need your bike..."

**Buffy**

After spending the better part of an hour wandering around the scrub forrest, me and Percy stopped for a water break. I guzzled my bottle. It was muggy in the scrub, moist air trapped. It felt like a good thirty degrees hotter here than out in the open.

Too soon, I ran out of water. I looked at the plastic water bottle in disgust. Percy gently took it from me and dipped it into the small pond, which was colored green from all the algea. He handed it back to me, as clear as glass. I looked at it wearily, before taking a sip. It tasted refreshingly fresh.

"Good trick," I said.

"It's handy," he said, filling his own bottle.

"Where are you going after?"

"New York," he said, "It's my home, I got friends there, it's a safe place."

"First time I've heard that said about New York City."

"There's a camp," he said, "For people like me. In Long Island."

"Children of the Gods?" I said, "I don't think I qualify."

"If you ever need help," he said, "You'll find it there. Talk to-"

We heard a loud ripping noise to our left, followed by a bovine roar. Percy cursed in what sounded like Ancient Greek. He sprung to his feet, pulling his sword from nowhere. Before he left, I would have to find out where he put that. We looked to the tops of the scrub, seeing them shake from side to side.

"You wanna flank or should I?" Percy asked.

"You go left," I said, cracking my knuckles. That monster nearly killed one of my best friends. I need some payback.

**Xander**

I kept the ice pack on my head, and counted to seven as I breathed. It helped keep the nausea down.

And then Cordelia goes and slaps me upside the head.

"Ow!" I said, "I was kinda thrown about thirty feet here!"

"Shut up, mister," she growled, "Where do you get off, doing what you did?"

"Saving your life?"

"Exactly!" she said, "We've hated eachother since kindergarten!"

"I went temporarily insane," I defended.

"Well then I still owe you one!" she said, "And I can't have that! So?!"

"So what?"

"What do you want?!" she said, "So I don't owe you anymore?!"

"One of us is confused and I honestly don't know which," I said.

**Jesse**

Willow and me were stuck on research duty. Giles was at his house picking up the more rare tomes, leaving me and her here pouring over Ancient Greek Poetry**.**

I slammed one of the books closed, "This is pointless," I said, "Even if we find something, there's no way to contact them in time."

"Well, we have to do something," Willow said.

"Why?" I said, "Even if we do, the monster was already written off as an earthquake."

"It can still hurt people, Jesse," Willow said.

"But why do _we_ have to fight it?" Jesse said, "Jackson, Buffy, even _Giles_- you saw what happened to Xander!"

When Willow said nothing, I knew I had hit bellow the belt. I saw how pale, almost gray, she was when they dragged Xander's almost delirious form into the library. Now he was outside, breathing fresh air and trying not to throw up. In my own funk, I forgot how much Willow cared for Xander. Seeing him risk his life for _Cordelia_, my crush, must have been as painful to her as it was too me. Worse, because she could hate Cordelia.

"Willow, I'm sorry," I apologized.

"No need," Willow said, "I-I think I found something."

"What is it?" I asked, scooting over to her.

"These symbols stand for values," she pointed to one of the photocopies of the circle, which she had taken copious notes over, "Weight, height, width, density-"

"It's math," I said, my brain kicking in, finding the relations to the monster.

"That's what I thought too," she said, "And then I saw this," she pointed to two other symbols, "According to this grimoire, these mean "space" and "movement"."

"Moving through space?"

"Or maybe _moving space_," Willow said, "According to some theories of physics, space isn't linear, but folded and crumpled, like a ball of paper. And, it's possible to move between the folds of space, and cut down on travel distance."

"Hyperspace," the sci-fi nerd said.

"In layman's terms," Willow said, "It's confusing, but if we can find the trajectory of the way the monster came from..."

"We can track who sent the monster."

**Buffy**

I'd like to say that the fight was going well.

But, then again, I'd like to say a lot of things.

The monster threw a rock the size of me at me. I rolled left, as Jackson rocketed onto the monster's back, poised to stab his neck. The demon rolled onto his back, with Jackson barely able to get himself off before being crushed. The demon roared and swiped at Jackson, with him barely dodging and sending a stream of mucky pond water into the monster's nose. It backed up, getting us some breathing room.

"Any ideas?" I asked.

"The hill," he jerked his head to our left, "Get us some wind."

"How will that help?"

"Trust me," he said, scrambling to the hill.

I heard the monster roar at us before charging. Jackson leaped to the side, barely missing the monster's huge horns. I ran and grabbed the monster's feet and dragged it back a few feet. It roared and kicked me with it's free leg, sending me flying back. But it gave Jackson enough time to reach the top of the hill.

I watched in amazement as the pond emptied and all the water flowed to Percy, spinning around him to form a hurricane. For the first time, I realized just how powerful Percy was.

The monster tried to charge him, but was knocked aside from the force of the hurricane. I raced up, leaped, and grabbed his horn, and pulled.

The horn came off.

The monster roared and swatted at me. I blocked the worst of it with the horn, but it still sent me to the floor. I painfully got up. I saw the hurricane leap onto the monster, smashing it sideways. I saw the hurricane slow. Percy was losing power. It was now or never. I locked eyes on him. He nodded. I charged.

The horn went straight through the monster's lower back. As the monster arched in pain, Percy stabbed him in the chest with his sword.

The monster rolled down the opposite side of the hill, onto a small paved road below. Me and Percy panted, out of breath and energy.

"That..." I began, "Was the... hardest monster... yet."

Percy thought about it, "Yeah... hardest _monster_..." the way he said it made me think that he had faced things _other_ than monsters.

We couldn't believe ourselves when the Minotaur began to get up.

"You've got to be kidding me..." we both said as the monster shakily got to it's feet, Percy's sword still sticking out of it's chest.

And then we heard the motorcycle.

Pike came around the bend, a petite blond girl riding in the back. He popped a wheelie, and rolled off the still speeding Harley. The bike smashed into the monster, at just the right angle to drive the sword still deeper into the monster. It bellowed in pain as it fell back and drove the horn all the way through the monster. It exploded in a cloud of yellow dust, leaving behind the sword, horn, and some strange bronze box.

"What it that?" I asked, approaching wearily.

"Kill the messenger to see the letter," the blonde girl said dreamily. I eyed her. She must be the girl that Pike told me about.

"Huh?" I said.

"My guess," Pike said, looking morosely at his wrecked bike, "That was in the monster when it exploded, sent by whoever sent the monster."

The blonde girl looked at Percy, "We're keeping him."

"Annabeth," Percy said, "He's a person, not a puppy."

"Who's she?" I asked.

"Annabeth, this is Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," Percy introduced, "Buffy, this is Annabeth, daughter of Athena, my girlfriend. And who are you?" Percy asked Pike.

"Pike."

"An old friend," I explained, "I didn't trust you, so I asked him to watch you, see if you were trouble."

"Don't worry," Percy assured, "I am."

**The Library... with me, Xander, Willow, Jesse, Giles, Pike, Cordelia, Annabeth, and Percy**

"... so, we fell," Percy said, "Into Tartarus."

"How did you escape?" Giles asked, "All of the stories say that Tartarus is a bottomless pit. No one has escaped it, except Kronos, if we are to believe you."

"The Doors of Death," Percy said.

"Timeless Death..." Annabeth said.

"Any ideas?" Percy asked, "Because the best I can come up with is we missed our stop, because the year is supposed to be 2013."

"Pretty much covers it," Pike said, "I remember reading about some physicists cat or something that might help explain it."

"Schrodinger's cat," Giles said, "Of course! In terms of physics, past, present, and future happen simultaneously."

"Huh?!" we said, except Willow and Jesse.

"It's about time," Jesse explained, "It doesn't happen as we see it. My guess is, when you were in Tartarus, you were out of the normal 'flow', for lack of a better word, of time. When you came out, you just got in at the wrong part."

"It would have been like trying to find a specific drop of water in a river," Willow said, "A really big river."

"It might also explain her condition," Giles said.

That got Percy's attention. He stood straighter, and I would bet money that his hand found Annabeth's under the table, "How?"

"Somehow she must have seen _into_ the stream of time," Giles said, "I can't imagine it would be good for her."

"Which would explain how she knew where you were," Cordelia said, "Because I have the charm she made for you," she held up the little trident charm.

"So you know everything?" Percy asked.

"Duh," Annabeth scoffed. The rest of us chuckled, even Percy, who gave her a quick peck on the cheek. I looked away. The way he looked at her, as if she were the very reason he breathed, made me feel like I was intruding.

Plus, I was a bit jealous.

"So," I said, "What's in this box?"

It was made up of the same glowing bronze material as Percy's sword. There were Ancient Greek runes covering it. It d didn't seem to have any sort of hinges or any way to open it.

Percy looked at it, "My name's on it," he said, and touched the center of the box, on the word Περσεύς. The box flashed blue, and a hiss of air sounded out.

"Red herrings cross the fox's trail," Annabeth said, "Set's it on it's right path."

"I got nothing from that," Pike said.

"Bad Pike," Annabeth said as if he were a naughty puppy.

"Well?" Xander said, "What is it?"

Percy hesitently lifted the lid, and a smile grew on his face.

"Oh, _yeah..."_


	11. Transitions

**Sorry for the absence, we've been pulling twelve hour days of vehicle maintenance (which is us sitting around waiting for the mechs to finish fixing planetaries or ripping comm out or build a new engine or something). For any outdoor enthusiasts, here is some free advice:**

** If you ever visit the Grand Canyon, DO NOT attempt to hike down to the riverbed and back in the same day. I did that and it kicked my ass, and I'm in the infantry!**

"It's so sleek..."

"It's so shiny..."

"It's so pretty..."

"It's small."

As usual, Cordelia was the one to state the obvious. While the rest of the group was busy admiring the iPod Touch that was found in the celestial bronze box, protected by many inches of the magical metal, she was the only one to point out the obvious design flaw.

"What company makes this?" Pike asked.

"Macintosh," Percy said.

"And when does it come out?" then Percy noticed the little notepad in his had. Pike noticed he noticed and put it in his pocket, saying, "Can't blame a guy for trying."

"Yes, I really can," Annabeth said, smacking him upside the head, "Bad Pike!"

"I feel so abused," Pike said.

"So what does it do?" Cordy asked.

"Plays music," Percy said, "Movies, games, internet-"

"Really?" Willow said, "Where do you plug the ethernet cable?"

"Wireless."

Willow looked like she was about to faint, and Buffy said, "You haven't even turned it on yet."

**Less than a minute later...**

After one try with the touch screen, Willow _did_ faint.

After waking up Willow (and placing her in a chair to ensure that if _did_ faint again [which looked likely] she at least wouldn't hurt herself), they then, much to Percy's chagrin, began to peruse his music.

"What kind of names are these?" Cordelia asked, "Imagine Dragons? Sounds like a kids band."

"It's not."

"Why do you not have any Pink Floyd on there?" Giles asked.

"Because I'm not old."

"Ooh!" Willow said, "This one looks interesting. Taylor Swift-"

Annabeth immediately snatched the iPod away, "No!" she said, "That bitch will destroy you!"

"Annabeth," Percy asked, his arms folded, "Why is there Taylor Swift on my iPod?"

It's amazing how guilty a crazy person can look when they are trying not to look guilty, "No reason."

Percy sighed in defeat, and then nodded, "She's right though, Willow," he agreed, "That bitch _will_ destroy you."

* * *

Life went on.

Vampires were dusted, classes tolerated, assemblies sat through, monsters killed. Buffy advanced by leaps and bounds, under the tutelage of both Percy and Giles. Percy, meanwhile, began to grow stronger physically as well, finding himself able to better keep up with the Slayer. Giles theorized that it was due to the "aura" the Slayer emitted that let the world know that there was one Slayer still alive, and no others need be Called.

Pike left, citing "prior obligations" that he needed to complete. According to everyone but Buffy and Angel, it was because of the budding relationship between those two.

Jesse and Willow were left with the unenviable task of saving Buffy and Percy's grades, tutoring them whenever and wherever they could. Willow even made it a mission of sorts to learn how to teach students with special needs like Percy, spending much of the little free time she had reading about learning disablities (As Xander put it, she was a "puzzle" person). Xander, meanwhile, spent much of his time around Annabeth, in an effort to "teach her how to at least _act _sane". He intently ignored Percy's glare. Annabeth, however, seemed to only want to amuse herself by pranking Xander. These ranged from simply annoying him (gluing his pencil to him) to almost killing him (almost dropping many sharp and pointy weapons on him) to downright making his life miserable (making him think he was shrinking... okay, he actually _was_ shrinking).

Cordelia straight up left. According to Annabeth, she "Did not yet see the reason..." when asked what the reason _was_, Annabeth started talking about puppies (she curiously then began to look at Xander then. Some time later, she inexplicably then began to scratch him behind the ear. Xander later shamefully admitted that it actually felt good).

Giles later began dating the computer teacher, who, after a few weeks, was brought into Percy and Annabeth's situation. Annabeth was so amused about that the she showed Ms Calendar a music video on Percy's iPod, "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada (When Percy asked _why_ that music video was on his iPod, Annabeth replied "No reason.") By the end of the music video, Giles was polishing his glasses furiously. Attempts continue to get him to agree into reenacting the video.

Angel and Buffy began to date steady. After a fun (if unorthodox, involving a competition to reach the top of a rickety pile of broken furniture that could and did collapse at any moment, many vampire, and a poodle), double date with Percy and Annabeth, both parties agreed not to let the female demigod ever plan a date again.

* * *

The only astrologist to see the phenomenon occur thought that the radio dish was malfunctioning. By the time he re calibrated it, the event had passed, leaving only a single point, somewhere in earth's orbit, that was steadily and consistently emitting extremely small doses of radiation. If anyone noticed it, it was immediately dismissed as one of a billion pieces of space junk floating around Earth that was reflecting radiation from some other source. If anyone cared, they would have seen that the phenomenon was holding a steady pattern, in completely the _opposite_ of the direction of Earth's rotation, holding somewhere above LA. If anyone thought that was weird, further investigation would reveal just how steady the point emitted radiation, proving that it wasn't merely a reflection.

Of course, no one cared.

If anyone in the city saw the event, they would have assumed some kids playing with fireworks in an alley. The only one who did see anything was a hobo whose name was long since forgotten and was referred to by those who gave any thought to it as "Not-There-Bear", as with his wild beard and huge size, not to mention talk of "teleporting alien dogs" it certainly was a deserved nickname.

In a side ally in Los Angeles, surrounded by industrial buildings, some closed, some not, the air poped and hissed, rapidly expanding in the sudden intense and localized heat, leaving the smell of toxic ozone. This continued less than five seconds, and then a bright blue ball flew to the heavens, slowly fading until it was nearly, but not completely, invisible, and maintained a holding pattern above Los Angeles.

Out of the alley wandered a dog with a black leather collar, a single, slight glowing gem on it. The dog wandered a bit out of the alley, away from the overpower stench of ozone, and put his nose to the floor, and began to sniff. After sniffing everything within a fifty yard radius of the alley, the dog let out a sad whine, and continued down the sidewalk, his head and tail low.

But his nose ever alert.

**I know this chapter's short, but I am trying to set it up for the next one, which will be more important to the story for later on. Think of it as a transition chapter.**


End file.
